Stating that “equality for women” should come before “respect”, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday asked people to come together to fight the problems of “dowry, female foeticide and excessive spending on weddings”.

Speaking at the first-ever award ceremony organised for “brave and heroic” women by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Kejriwal said the safety of women was a priority for the government.

“Safety of women is our priority. We are ready to spend as many crores on this as required,” said the CM.

However, he cautioned that women’s safety couldn’t be ensured by a “CM or an organisation” but required all of society to work together. “In this budget, we are making provisions to ensure CCTVs are installed across the city… but for Delhi to be really safe, society has to come together…,” he said.

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal spoke about the urgent need for forming a high-powered committee to check crimes against women. Adding that there was a need to make police accountable, Maliwal also appealed to the Lieutenant Governor to approve the formation of thana-level committees for the same. She also announced the setting up of Mahila Panchayats in 70 constituencies of the city and the “Acid Watch” — a committee that will look into ways to stop sale of acid in Delhi.

Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia also spoke at the event, stressing on the need to look at how school curriculum reinforces certain beliefs in children about gender.

“In our books, it is taught that the opposite of man is woman.. Is that really the case? Men and women complement each other.. But we don’t realise that we are unknowingly reinforcing these beliefs in our children by saying such things,” he said.